Royal Caribbean’s Star of Seas, one of the world’s largest cruise ships, is now equipped with a Starlink Community Gateway — a system capable of delivering 10Gbps of symmetrical satellite internet for both downloads and uploads.
Typically, these orb-like white gateways are installed at SpaceX’s ground stations on land. But for the first time, Royal Caribbean has deployed them across parts of a moving vessel, effectively turning the ship into its own floating ground station.
High-Capacity Connectivity at a Price
SpaceX began offering the Community Gateway in early 2024 to internet service providers as a fiber alternative. The equipment comes with a steep upfront cost of $1.25 million plus $75,000 per Gbps per month. In July 2024, SpaceX demonstrated speeds of 8.1Gbps “with no land in sight,” hinting at the capability now tested at sea.
Royal Caribbean first struck a deal with SpaceX in 2022 to bring Starlink aboard its fleet. It’s not confirmed if Star of Seas is the first ship to install the gateway, but the company has acknowledged technical challenges in adapting the system for vessels constantly in motion.
Passenger Experience Still Mixed
Despite the powerful infrastructure, many cruise passengers continue to report sluggish speeds around 10Mbps, far below the typical 100–300Mbps available to a single consumer Starlink dish. The likely cause is network sharing across thousands of passengers, crew, and ship venues such as bars and entertainment halls.
Internet access on Royal Caribbean cruises also remains pricey, costing between $18 and $30 per day.
Author’s Opinion
Starlink’s 10Gbps installation on Star of Seas shows the potential of satellite internet, but the real challenge is scale. Even with cutting-edge hardware, dividing bandwidth among thousands of users turns impressive numbers into underwhelming reality for individuals. Until cruise lines rethink pricing models and bandwidth allocation, passengers may still find themselves paying premium rates for café-level Wi-Fi.
Featured image credit: Heute
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